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tv   ABC 7 News at Noon  ABC  November 15, 2010 12:00pm-12:30pm EST

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captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> we are following a number of new developments today in the investigation of jack johnson. county police officers are now facing charges in this case. johnson himself is speaking out as he returns to work for the first time since his arrest.
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we have breaking news this noon. federal agents are also coming through evidence picked up during a raid this morning in hyattsville. fast-moving developments this morning. what is the latest? >> federal law enforcement sources told me that this is essentially phase 2 of what we saw on friday starting with the rest of jack johnson with relation to those federal corruption charges. nine people were arrested this morning, including three prince george's county police officers. the first scheme i will talk about here at the liquor store -- a liquor store, with two police officers. the allegation is that all of them conspired to be legally smuggle in alcohol and cigarettes that had no taxes, then profiting from the higher sales prices in the state.
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the sergeant and the corporal are accused of being hired to essentially provide security for those shipments. one source tells me that they actually took on marked police cruisers out of state and physically escorted the smugglers that brought alcohol and cigarettes into the state. the second scheme essentially involves cocaine and guns. a young police officer and one other person may have been charged with that. as far as widespread corruption, this is a case that you will hear a lot about. federal authorities are opposed to seize -- poised to seize $3.5 million. serve malls, holmes, liquor stores and 13 different vehicles. the fed said that all of this property and money resulted from, for, or was used in the commission of this grand
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smuggling scheme. we had a chance to talk to authorities. they said they were tremendously disheartened that their own could be accused of such corruption. all of the defendants will be in federal court this afternoon. the fed's told us last friday that there would be more arrests and across the board investigations into official corruption in prince george's county. >> serious charges. thank you so much. this story is stretching to howard county, maryland. ryanne carter has been talking to the members of the store. good afternoon to you. >> good afternoon. we have seen federal agents out here for a number of hours. you can see that there are about 1 dozen official vehicles here
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at this time. federal agents have been inside of the house for a few hours now. both are facing charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion. part of what you just heard from bad -- red bell. a neighbor that did not want to speak on camera said he was shocked to see federal authorities here. a woman who said that she was a friend of the couple stayed here at the home, hear what she has to say. >> she said that no one would get in because they are searching the house. searching for what? but i do not know. >> federal agents have been at this house for a number of hours. we have seen agents moving boxes from one vehicle to the
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next. it is not clear how long this search will go on. >> here are a few more details about those three police officers who have now been arrested. 45-year-old sergeant richard dilvaverere. corporal john kim facing charges. as well as officer theresea simmiik is facing charges. also speaking out today, jack johnson, speaking for the first time since his arrest. courtney? >> we did hear from county executive jack johnson at around 11:00 when he arrived. he made it very clear that he would not speak about the charges he had faced. the ongoing investigation. for the lose of arrest.
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all questions from reporters. -- or the illusive arrest. he did come out to tell citizens of prince george's county that he was going to stay strong and fight. that he had received thousands of phone calls and that he would be with his family, continuing to work through this. >> i cannot speak on these charges against me right now. i just cannot. i have lawyers and i have to check with my family. i hope that all of you will respect that. basically we want you to know that we are moving forward on going to work. >> today he says that as he is at work he will be looking at the affordability report, a
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snapshot of county finances that he will review to draw up a blueprint for the incoming county executive return. including expenses and expenditures. i asked the county communications director if it was appropriate based on the charges that johnson is facing for him to have any involvement in county finances at this time. i was told that he has only been charged and he has not been convicted, remaining a county executive. but the county remains in good financial standing. for the past three years they have had a aaa bond rating and that the county executive will continue to come to work until september -- until the sixth at noon, when he gives up his executive shipped. >> you will want to join us tonight at 5:00 for more on the latest in this case surrounding
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jack johnson. look for updates throughout the day on our web site. turning to other news of the day, we have developing stories for you. springfield police are looking for a mother that abandon her baby in a duffel bag. the discovery was made at st. raymond's catholic church. the child was wrapped in a blanket or towel. police believe that she could have been outside for as many as six hours. the baby is in good condition and police are trying to find her mother. >> it is clear that the baby was not delivered in a hospital. the mother may have delivered the baby by herself. we are concerned for her health and safety. >> anyone that saw anything suspicious in the area or has information is asked to call fairfax police. new today, the fbi is offering an award for information leading
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to the arrest of a suspected serial shooter. 5 shootings at the military facilities last month in our area are believed to be related. the shooter has targeted the pentagon, museum, and recording facilities. each shooting has been linked to one single weapon. northbound 295 has been reopened after a police chase steps took place -- police chase that took place. one person was hurt. we are counting down to kick off. very close to rush hour? that could lead to game day gridlock. the redskins are playing against the eagles tonight. staying open for one additional hour, the metro. meaning that the last blue line train will leave at the center
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at 12:24. if the game goes into overtime, metro will extend the service as needed. aside from the traffic, another big concern for the fans is the weather. adam has our forecast and a look ahead do game night. too bad we do not have that we can whether we just experienced. -- too bad we do not have that weekend weather that we just experienced. >> from our rooftop camera looking into the district we have a look at the fog. took some time, especially locally, to burn off the fog. we were still dealing with leftover cloud cover. otherwise, clouds are increasing from the southwest. a few more degrees in the upper 60's to near 70's, temperatures
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holding in the low 50's throughout the game tonight. >> thank you. the defense attorney for the man accused of killing chandra levy begins their case this week. they rested the case last week. they were expected to call more witnesses, including a prison cell late. they apparently ran into problems bringing the imprisoned would miss the court. president obama is back in washington after his 10 day trip across asia. the new republican nominee is back in town as well. can both sides work together after that midterm shake-up? john has a look ahead. >> one by one they are coming. capitol hill's largest freshman class in decades. the proud political amateurs of the next congress, 109 newcomers. 35 never having held elected
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office. >> washington has lost touch with the little guy. >> many of these lawmakers were elected on a promise to roll back the president's agenda are on a potential collision course with the commander-in-chief, weekend and calling for cooperation. >> i neglected some things that matter a lot of people and rightly so. >> the president said that his words were intended for newly empowered republicans who have an agenda of their own. >> there is no room to negotiate, particularly on raising taxes. >> medicare and medicaid, finding bipartisan agreement before it is too late. >> other challenges include lifting the don't ask don't tell policy, and banning earmarks.
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>> democrats are also embattled amongst themselves. they are expected to keep nancy follows the and steny hoyer as their top leaders, but some of them says that that sends the voters that rejected them exactly the wrong message. >> when abc 7 news at noon continues today with a deadly crash, was it really caused by a runaway car? the mechanical problem that investigators are looking into. one school might have the solution for students. we'll take a look at the pilot program that has kids hitting this news button. sarah palin, the former vice presidential candidate in her element. what could the show me for her future in politics? all of that along with a
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>> investigators want to know if a mechanical problem led to a deadly crash in utah. the driver was behind the wheel with his wife, his son, and his son's fiancee. they flew through an intersection and slammed into a retaining wall. the driver and the fiancee dried -- died in the crash. >> the survivors stated that they were telling him to put the brakes on and he said he was. these state troopers are working with to liotta and the family to see what specific issues caused that crash. one more speed camera will be activated a long branch parkway in college park.
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another will be going up along route 1. if you are caught going 47 miles per hour or faster, you will get a $40 ticket. residents will have the chance to weigh in on parking requirements. the zoning commission is holding a public hearing to discuss new parking plans for cars and bicycles. including getting rid of parking minimums in some area, increasing bicycle parking, requiring more landscaping in surface lot. that meeting starts at 6:30. adam is here now to talk a little bit about our weather situation. nothing like the weekend? >> absolutely. talk about perfect weather. high pressure, rare for november. temperatures in the 60's. >> it was strange to see people out in shorts on saturday. >> because of those high
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temperatures. >> but now it is wet and sticky. >> it will get pretty wet tonight and tomorrow. it had to change at some point. let's get a good look outside with our weather but that work. west from the rooftop camera in arlington towards falls church, we have a good time lapse of the bay this morning. often we have beautiful sunrise over the bay. today it was gray instead because of the thick fog and cloud cover. increasing cloud cover once again, even for those of you that saw sunshine. 52 degrees currently, dealing with fog in frederick as well. 57, winchester, clouds are pushing it in from the southwest. let's go to that graphic.
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this is the visible satellite. just a picture, several, actually, pieced together from outer space. that is the fog from early this morning. put in motion, some of that low cloud cover is lingering over parts of the metro area of. new clouds are to the southwest and are continuing from the southwest and increasing throughout midday and into this afternoon. we have rainshowers basically from tennessee to the gulf coast. low pressure is forming over the gulf of mexico, tracking northward into our region. as it does that, these showers will get pushed into our area. tonight through tomorrow, even into wednesday morning rush hour it could be camp as well. the future forecast shows that after midnight, rain for most of us. light rain off and on tomorrow.
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how much? about three-quarters of an inch. temperatures cooler tomorrow in the 50's. >> all right, adam. thank you very much. politician sarah palin is giving her fans a dose of reality in her new cable television show. >> i do not know of i can do this. >> it debuted last night on tlc, featuring the former vice presidential nominee and her family, giving insight into the family, showing them being parents, fishing, hiking, climbing. >> no voice. go upstairs. >> as for her future in politics, there are scenes that suggest she is positioning himself for a 2012 presidential run. airing sunday night on tlc. coming up, one school is trying
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to break from the norm with a pretty big experiment. next you will find out why students really seem to like this. today on oprah winfrey for the first time in 25 years, the color purple reunion. the entire cast coming
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>> american universities are hosting a growing number of students from china. nearly 128 chinese students -- 128,000 chinese students studied in the u.s. this year. traditionally studying in non- traditional destinations.
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" meanwhile, one school in england is testing out students sleeping in late. they do not start until 10:00 a.m.. scientists say that teenagers are programmed to sleep longer -- to sleep longer. the hormones in their body means that most of them are incapable of functioning during regular work hours. >> they did not seem to have enough sleep in the morning. now they appeared more refreshed. >> one mother said that she had seen changes in her son and that attendance was up in the long term, producing healthier and happier graduates at school that were better prepared for facing the real world. might work in the real world as well. might work in the real world as well. coming of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. it's the way to individually brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute.
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thank you for joining us
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